Squad Leaders experience

thi is a continuation of the Squad Leaders experiences narated earlier in this blog... read on
... the second day at APTC was a test of attitude and the will to remain strong in light of adversity. That morning, we realized the importance of working as a team. After the strenuous morning run (we called it ‘morning glory’) and grueling exercises, I could not help but toy around with the idea of quitting!! There was a problem though. Quitting would mean losing my job but more importantly, we were a team and just like a chain, a team is as strong as its weakest member. (The law of the chain: The strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link) Quitting would kill my colleagues’ morale and make the team weak and vulnerable. And of course I had the male ego to guard!!
After dressing up in our military gears, we went to the mess for breakfast. Not without drama though. Our admin Sergeant was hot on our heels backing instructions left, right and upside down! “Soldiers flock in 3’s!”, “Soldiers run or quick-match, no leisure walking”, “Soldiers salute their seniors!”…. After breakfast, we headed straight for the morning parade. This was like one of those primary school assemblies where the teacher inspects your cleanliness, only that this was stricter.

Our boots had to be sparkling clean and shinning, the uniform well pressed to match the shirt and our jersey had to be tacked in…yes tacked in!. We had to stand under the scorching sun for one and half hours, all the while commands flowing:-“kifua mbele!” “kaza kiwiko!” “Angalia mbele kulingana na urefu wako!” By now, I could tell the sun was not doing any favors to my colleague standing in front of me. He relaxed his stand and sighed. “Nani hiyo nasisimama kama match-stick!” thundered the corporal. …then the unthinkable happens, my colleague bends and starts vomiting on the parade ground!! The corporal walks over slowly, bends and counts the pieces of meat in the vomit. “mocha, mbili, tatu” then he thunders, “Hii mutu natapika nyama tatu, na sisi tuna mpatia mbili, atatwambia hiyo ya tatu alitoa wapi?”…..I was dying of laughter…I could not dare laugh though! (The required meat consumption for a recruit is 75g per day… appr. 2pieces of meat, and that’s what is served at the camp)

After the parade, we went back to the drill ground for training. Drill; this is where we were taught how to stand attention, at ease, left turn, right turn, about turn, how to match both quick and slow match. Now this was fun, though not for a lady who had knock-knees! She could not stand attention! And then we had this guy whose coordination of his hands and legs was zero! “kwani miguu yako yote ni ya left?” the corporal used to ask

This is where we got to know why we had written our names and qualifications at the gate when we were reporting. Our drill sergeant made it clear that we had left our degrees, our A’s in Maths and all other qualifications at the gate. While at the camp, the Maths that mattered was 1, 2, 3 and the English that mattered was Yes Sir/Madam. No more!! He said we could always pick our degrees and masters at the gate on our way out after the training!! This guy was dead serious. We matched in Numbers, shook hands in numbers, received our certificates in numbers and shouted in numbers!! One, two salimia, two three kata.. one, two pokea (certificate), two, three kata…that was life. He also made it clear that “YES SIR/MADAM” was the only acceptable answer and all what we had and owned, “ni mali ya serikali”. He made us confess at the top of our voices by asking, “hizo boots ni za nani?”, we replied in unison “ni Za serikali sir!!”, “na hiyo miguu imevaa boots ni ya nani?”…. “na kifua ni ya nani?”, ….“kisigino ni ya nani?”… “kiwiko ni ya nani?”…. “ndevu na nywele ni za nani?”…. you can guess the answer to all those questions. Then came the instructions “Ndevu na nywele za seririkali zinyolewe, kisigino ya serikali ichimbe chini, weka kifua ya serikali mbele, kiwiko ya serikali ikazwe na boots za serikali zing’ae”
I loved drill; this is where the discipline begins. We also leant that every move a soldier makes, he begins with the left foot. That got soo into me that every time I stand to walk, or I’m climbing stairs or boarding the bus, I always begin with my left foot!!
After a heated discussion over tea break, we unanimously vowed that no one would quit however tough the training would be. The 2nd law of teamwork came into the picture. We were recruited in to be change agents; we were determined to serve our employer and our country. The law of the price tag: The team fails to reach its potential when if fails to pay the price. The training was the price we had to pay, and we were willing to pay it.

After tea break, we joined the physical training instructor for PT (Physical Training). This was a no-nonsense session where endurance was instilled. Sit ups with logs on our chests, push ups on tires, crawling on our stomachs and frog jumps so intense that I felt like doing it on my pants!! Sweat is salty while tears are sugary; this is where you get to taste the mixture of the two!
(in the next issue, I unveil the Mt. Kenya experience, the chilly nights, the Long walks, the early morning water dips, the panga walks and the solo camp)